The 2011 Emmy Awards wrapped up tonight with Modern Family coming out on top, winning numerous awards, including a second award for Outstanding Comedy series. Meanwhile, Mad Men continued the tradition of winning the Outstanding Drama award for itself, beating out newcomers Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, as well as Friday Night Lights, among others.
The night wasn’t exactly bursting with exciting moments, grand speeches or unexpected snafu’s, with the exception of the teleprompter failing to work when Gwyneth Paltrow was on stage to present, but there were some great moments, and some not-so-great ones worth noting.
Highlights
The Opening song
Celebrating everything that’s so great about TV, host Jane Lynch bounced from set to set, checking in with some of popular shows. There were other mash-ups involved in this, one of which included Breaking Bad bad-boy Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) stopping in at Dunder Mifflin to exchange some words (and illegal substances) with Creed.
Jane Lynch
Proving once again that she’s able to adapt her style and sense of humor to fit just about any occasion, Lynch had a number of great jokes, plus she looked fantastic. She carried the spirit of the night with her wit, not crossing any boundaries, but delivering laughs and keeping the show moving along.
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy
In an amusing change of pace, for the Actress in a Comedy Award, when each female nominee’s name was read off, the actress rushed to the stage to stand there and wait as though this were a beauty pageant. The bit ended with Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) winning the Emmy and being treated to a crown and roses, in addition to her statue. As funny as the set-up was, it was actually really sweet to see McCarthy hugging her fellow nominees before accepting her award.
A Lonely Island medley...
Anything that puts Michael Bolton on stage dressed as a pirate is winning in my book. The Lonely Island medley included the popular singing group (often featured on Saturday Night Live) performing three of their hits (“3-Way,” “I Just Had Sex” and “Jack Sparrow”) Guest performers included Maya Rudolph, Ed Helms and John Stamos.
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts... Can’t Lose!
Ok, Friday Night Lights didn’t win everything it was nominated for. It missed the award for Outstanding Drama, and unfortunately, Connie Britton didn’t take Lead Actress in a Drama series, which was a shame, but the drama series did win for Best Writing (Jason Katims) and Kyle Chandler took the award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.
The Battle of the Jimmies
Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel wrestled to the stage-floor as part of their pre-presenting bit. Jury’s still out on who the superior late night Jimmy is.
Charlie Sheen
Sheen appeared on stage, not to participate in some bit, or as a joke, but to express good will toward Two and a Half Men in its new season. Between this and his recent appearance on Leno last week, he appears to have landed back on earth (and just in time for his Comedy Central Roast).
Low-lights
In Memoriam
The Canadian Tenors sounded great, but between wondering who they were and the camera cutting away from the list of the deceased to focus on the singers, it was easy to get distracted by everything but the intended focus of the segment. It made the whole thing feel more like a performance and less like a tribute to dearly departed. ?
Mad Men beating Game of Thrones, Friday Night Lights and Boardwalk Empire
As much as I love Mad Men and look forward to the AMC drama’s return, its win this year should have been predictable (looking at previous years), however, with two excellent new drama series (Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones) and one fantastic series that was looking at its last shot at an Emmy (Friday Night Lights), I really expected one of those three to beat out Mad Men this year.
Steve Carell missing his last shot for an Emmy for The Office
This is assuming he never wins for a guest-starring role at some point later down the line. Carell has been nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series every year since 2006 for his role in The Office and he’s never won. This was his year. His last episode as Michael Scott last season was Emmy-worthy in itself, not to mention seasons of making us laugh in the role.
The Winners
Outstanding Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire
?Dexter
?Friday Night Lights
?Game of Thrones
?The Good Wife
?Mad Men
Lead Actor, Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
John Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Lead Actress, Drama
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Supporting Actress, Drama
Kelly McDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Margo Martindale, Justified
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Supporting Actor, Drama
John Slattery, Mad Men
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
Walton Goggins, Justified
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks & Recreation
30 Rock
Lead Actress, Comedy
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Lead Actor, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis CK, Louie
Steve Carell, The Office
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Oustanding Reality Competition Program
So You Think You Can Dance
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Top Chef
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
The Colbert Report
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Saturday Night Live
Conan
Real Time with Bill Maher
The Daily Show
Outstanding Mini-series or Movie
Mildred Pierce
Downton Abbey
The Kennedys
Cinema Verite
Too Big to Fail
The Pillars of the Earth
Lead Actress, Mini-series or Movie
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Taraji P. Henson, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Jean Marsh, Upstairs Downstairs
Lead Actor, Mini-series or Movie
Greg Kinnear, The Kennedys
Barry Pepper, The Kennedys
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Idris Elba, Luther
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Supporting Actor, Mini-series or Movie
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Brian F. O'Byrne, Mildred Pierce
Tom Wilkinson, The Kennedys
Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
James Woods, Too Big to Fail
Supporting Actress, Mini-series or Movie
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Melissa Leo, Mildred Pierce
Mare Winningham, Mildred Pierce
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Eileen Atkins, Upstairs Downstairs
